1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for removing scales from varieties of small and medium-sized fish.
2. Description of Related Art
Scale removal is a necessary procedure in the preparation of the common varieties of fish such as pan fish found on a typical fishing trip. Much of the scale removing procedure is still performed using some type of hand-held device. While this ensures a properly performed job, the drawback is that only one fish may be scaled at a time. This constraint has the effect of unnecessarily extending the time required to scale a plurality of fish in one sitting.
It has therefore been a goal in the art to provide an apparatus capable of removing scales from a number of fish concurrently. Several devices have been designed for such a purpose. In one type of device a bucket fish scaler is provided with an insertable cylindrical sleeve containing an abrasive surface and an electro-mechanical rotatable impeller to agitate the surrounding water. The fish are thus forced against the abrasive surfaces for scaling. An example of such devices are included in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,726,095 to Bissell, Jr. and 4,763,386 to Wissbroecker. While this scaling device appears to be conceptually sound, problems have been encountered with damage to the fish fillet during the scaling operation. This is apparently a result of excessive impeller rotation due to electro-mechanical power input and also due to the use of abrasive edges which tend to cut into the fish during scaling.
Other fish scaler assemblies include horizontal cylinder and agitator assemblies with the horizontal agitators including a number of perpendicularly extending, longitudinally spaced rods. These rods typically embody the abrasive units required for the scaling operations. Examples of such devices are shown in German Patent No. 366,185 to Nordischer Maschinenbau and German Patent No. 437,620 to Robert Scheibel. While these devices may be effective in commercial applications, the present teaching includes a portable unit capable of being transported to relatively inaccessible environments. The shortcomings of the other, more cumbersome, devices are in this respect apparent.
These devices also require specialized assemblies for containment and processing of the fish by rotation of the agitator along the horizontal axis. The teachings of the present invention allow for the adaptability of commonly found five gallon buckets used by fishermen today for fish scaling purposes.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an effective and lightweight fish scaling device and method of fish scaling capable of performing scaling operations on most varieties of small to medium sized fish without damage to the flesh of the fish. It is also a object of the present invention to provide a fish scaling device capable of being operated by manual means, therefore not constrained by the requirement of electro-mechanical power for rotation with the attendant requirement of an AC/DC power source.
It is still further an object of the present invention to provide a fish scaling apparatus embodying a novel rotatable scaling arm configuration useful in removing the scales from many varieties of fish.